Should Vaccines be Mandatory?

 No US federal vaccination laws exist, but all 50 states have laws requiring children attending public school to be vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (generally in a DTaP vaccine); polio (an IPV vaccine); measles and rubella (generally in an MMR vaccine); and varicella (chickenpox). All 50 states allow medical exemptions, 47 states allow religious exemptions, and 17 states allow philosophical (or personal belief) exemptions. This federal law should be more open to personal beliefs in more states.

Vaccines are usually used to prevent illness and disease, but there are several harmful chemicals in them that can show serious side effects, which is why vaccines should not be mandatory. There are many risks and side effects when looking into vaccines; Many of them have long last effects that never go away. According to the CDC, all vaccines carry a risk of a life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) in about one per million children. Long-term seizures, coma, lowered consciousness, and permanent brain damage may be associated with the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) and MMR vaccines, though the CDC notes the rarity of the reaction makes it difficult to determine causation. The CDC reports that pneumonia can be caused by the chickenpox vaccine, and a "small possibility" exists that the flu vaccine could be associated with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder in which the person's immune system attacks parts of the peripheral nervous system, in about one or two per million people vaccinated.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) says that vaccines may be linked to learning disabilities, asthma, autism, diabetes, chronic inflammation, and other disabilities. One of the main ingredients that people worry about is thimerosal, an organic mercury compound found in trace amounts in one flu vaccine for children and other vaccines for adults, has a proposed link to autism. Aluminum is used in some vaccines and excess aluminum in human bodies can cause neurological harm. Formaldehyde, also found in some vaccines, is a carcinogen, and exposure can cause side effects such as cardiac impairment, central nervous system depression, "changes in higher cognitive functions," coma, convulsions, and death. There are so many more ingredients in vaccines that cause so many more problems.

All of these vaccines cause so many different problems that could affect someone's way of living. It is a scary thought that one vaccine could leave someone with life impairments that will never go away, which is why I believe so many parents started opting out of vaccines. The thought of giving a child a problem that could potentially harm it is terrifying. Vaccines work by prodding the immune system to produce antibodies against viruses and bacteria, thus priming the body against these pathogens before they enter it. Some antibodies, however, can react against not only the intended pathogen proteins but also against human proteins ” a phenomenon called cross-reactivity. A 2015 study published in Science Translational Medicine discovered that antibodies elicited by the Pandemrix influenza vaccine cross-reacted with a human brain protein ” hypocretin receptor 2. Another reason vaccines shouldn't be used is that most diseases that vaccines target are relatively harmless in many cases, thus making vaccines unnecessary. According to Shayan T. Vyas, MD, chickenpox is often just a rash with blisters and can be treated with acetaminophen, cool compresses, and calamine lotion.

The measles is normally a rash accompanied by a fever and runny nose and can be treated with rest and fluids. Rubella is often just a virus with a rash and low fever and can be treated with acetaminophen. Rotavirus can normally be treated with hydration and probiotics. If you can help treat an illness without putting harmful chemicals into a child, why wouldn't you? If harmed by a vaccine, the option of suing the manufacturer is not allowed. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) was signed into law in 1986 by President Ronald Raegan as part of a larger health bill. This act declares that no person can sue any vaccine manufacturer. Instead, they have The Office of Special Masters of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, also known as Vaccine Court, where you can file a case in return for compensation.

Between 1989 and July 1, 2014, 3,645 compensation awards have been made by the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) (amounting to over $2.7 billion in awards and $113.2 million to cover legal costs) and 9,786 claims have been dismissed (amounting to $62.8 million paid to 4,925 dismissed claimants to cover legal costs). In 2014, the court received 542 claims and compensated 365 people for a total of $202 million. Settlements ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many were for the flu shot and Guillain-Barre syndrome. According to HeinOnline, A.J. was born May 15, 1994, a healthy baby boy. Between May 1994 and December 1995, A.J. was administered standard childhood vaccines In May 2001, seven years from his first administered vaccine, A.J. was diagnosed with disintegrative autism resulting from mercury toxicity. (pp 91) This is a recurring trend that has not stopped. Healthy babies are born, then get vaccinated and are never the same afterward. These are the things that no one is talking about when discussing vaccines and the side effects of getting them.

Medical decisions for children should be left to the parents or caregivers. Barbara Low Fisher, Co-founder of National Vaccine Information Center, stated, "If the State can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biological products of known and unknown toxicity today, there will be no limit on which individual freedoms the State can take away in the name of the greater good tomorrow." The government should not be able to intervene in personal medical choices that have the potential to govern the rest of our lives, especially with such high risks. Vaccines are unnatural, and natural immunity is more effective than vaccination.

Even pro-vaccine organizations state that natural vaccination causes better immunity. Mayo Clinic states that natural infection "often provides more complete immunity than a series of vaccinations." Kurt Perkins, DC, a chiropractor and wellness expert, stated, "A vaccine violates all laws of natural immune defenses by taking a potential pathogen along with all the TOXIC ingredients (aluminum, formaldehyde, adjuvants, etc.) directly into your blood system. This process would never occur in building natural immunity. That last sentence is kind of an oxymoron. Immunity is a natural thing. Vaccines are an artificial thing." Natural immunity is much stronger than whatever they inject into your body. Without all the injections, your body would have found a natural way to fight illnesses off, making your immune system stronger than the injection would have.

After discussing all the risks of vaccinations, I believe more research should be done over them before making them mandatory for anyone for any reason. The risks range from high to low, and they are still risks that no one should have to take when thinking about safety for themselves or others, especially if one of the risks is a fatality. If a person believes that their child should not require vaccinations, who is to tell them otherwise? It should be their decision on if they want their children vaccinated and going to public schools or not.

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